Have any Kepler detectors been lost since the start of mission operations?
Yes: All 4 channels of Module 3 (1 of 21) failed on Jan. 9, 2010 (MJD55205.745) during Quarter 4, and the Project has declared it permanently nonoperational. The impact on science observations is that about 20% of Kepler’s field of view suffers a one-quarter loss of data per year. Further details of this anouncement can be found in Section 6 of the Project’s Data Release Notes #6 and in Section 4 of the Kepler Data Characteristics Handbook. • Which of the available light curves should I use? Starting with the initial delivery of Quarter 3 data products, the Kepler project has provided light curves in the form of “uncorrected” and “corrected” PDC summary found on the Kepler GO website. • Are the flux contaminations given in the Target Search page reliable? No, they are meant only as a general guide. The project has asked MAST to post the following statement: “WARNING: Clarifying Crowding and Contamination It has come to our attention that the target-specific contamination (and crowding)
